The Capture of Vimy Ridge
Vimy Ridge--90 years Later
Copy: Courtesy, Veteran Affairs
Sunday, April 8, 2007
At 5.30 a.m., April 9, 1917, EasterMonday, the creepingartillery barrage began to move steadily towardthe Germans. Behind it advanced 20,000 soldiers of the firstattacking wave of the four Canadian divisions, a score ofbattalions in line abreast, leading the assault in a drivingnorth-west wind that swept the mangled countryside with sleet andsnow. Guided by paint-marked stakes, the leading infantry companies crossedthe devastation of No Man's Land, picking their way throughshell-holes and shattered trenches. They were heavily laden. Each soldiercarried at least 32 kilograms of equipment, plus, some say, asimilar weight of the all-pervasive mud on uniform and equipment.This burden made climbing in and out of the numerous trenches andcraters particularly difficult.
There was some hand-to-hand fighting, but thegreatest resistance, and heavy Canadian losses, came from thestrongly-emplaced machine-guns in the German intermediate line. Overcoming thisresistance, three of the four divisions captured their part of theRidge by midday, right on schedule. In the final stage, the 2ndCanadian Division was assisted by the British 13th Brigade, whichfell under its command for the operation.
The 4th Canadian Division's principal objectivewas Hill 145, the highest and most important feature of thewhole Ridge. Once taken, its summit would give the Canadians acommanding view of German rearward defences in the Douai Plain aswell as those remaining on the Ridge itself.
Because of its importance, the Germans hadfortified Hill 145 with well-wired trenches and a series of deepdug-outs beneath its rear slope. The brigades of the 4th Divisionwere hampered by fire from the Pimple, the other prominentheight, which inflicted costly losses on the advancing waves ofinfantry. Renewed attacks were mounted using troops that were originallyscheduled to attack the Pimple. Finally, in the afternoon of April10, a fresh assault by a relieving brigade cleared the summit ofHill 145 and thus placed the whole of Vimy Ridge in Canadianhands. Two days later, units of the 10th Canadian Brigade successfullystormed the Pimple. By that time, the enemy had accepted the loss ofVimy Ridge as permanent and had pulled back more than threekilometres.
Vimy Ridge marked the only significant successof the Allied spring offensive of 1917. But though they had won agreat tactical victory, the Canadians were unable to exploit theirsuccess quickly with a breakthrough, mainly because their artilleryhad bogged down and was unable to move up with them through themuddy, shell-torn ground. Instead, some Canadian artillerymen tookover captured German guns which they had earlier been trainedto fire.
The Canadian achievement in capturing Vimy Ridgeowed its success to sound and meticulous planning and thoroughpreparation, all of which was aimed at minimizing casualties. Butit was the splendid fighting qualities and devotion to duty ofCanadian officers and soldiers on the battlefield that were decisive.Most of them citizen-soldiers, they performed like professionals.
Canadians attacked German machine-guns, thegreatest obstacles to their advance, with great courage. They savedmany comrades' lives as a result. Four won the Victoria Crossfor their bravery in such dangerous exploits. Of these, three wereearned on the opening day of the battle.
Private William Milne of the 16th Battalion wonthe VC when he crawled up to a German machine-gun that had beenfiring on the advancing Canadians, bombed its crew andcaptured the gun. Later, he stalked a second machine-gun, killing itscrew and capturing it, but was himself killed shortly thereafter.The whereabouts of Private Milne's grave is unknown.
Lance-Sergeant Ellis Sifton of the 18thBattalion charged a machine-gunpost single-handed, leaping into the trenchwhere it was concealed and killing its crew. Soon after, he was met bya small party of Germans who were advancing through thetrench. He managed to hold them off until his comrades arrived, butthen one of his victims, gasping a last breath of life, firedupon him.
During the fight for Hill 145, Captain ThainMacDowell of the 38th Battalion entered an enemy dug-out, wherehe tricked 77 Prussian Guards into surrendering and captured twomachine-guns by pretending he had a large force behind him. His large forceconsisted of two soldiers. MacDowell had earned theDistinguished Service Order on the Somme.
On April 10, Private John Pattison of the 50thBattalion jumped from shell-hole to shell-hole until, 30 metresfrom an enemy machine-gun, he was in range to bomb its crew. He then rushedforward to bayonet the remaining five gunners. Pattison was killedtwo months later.
Of the four Vimy VCs, only Captain MacDowellsurvived the War.
At Vimy, the Canadian Corps had captured moreground, more prisoners and more guns than any previous Britishoffensive in two-and-a-half years of war. It was one of the mostcomplete and decisive engagements of the Great War and the greatestAllied victory up to that time. The Canadians had demonstratedthey were one of the outstanding formations on the Western Frontand masters of offensive warfare.
Though the victory at Vimy came swiftly, it didnot come without cost. There were 3,598 dead out of 10,602Canadian casualties. Battalions in the first waves of the assaultsuffered grievously. No level of casualties could ever be calledacceptable, but those at Vimy were lower than the terriblenorm of many major assaults on the Western Front. They were alsofar lighter than those of any previous offensive at the Ridge.Earlier French, British and German struggles there had cost atleast 200,000 casualties. Care in planning by the Corps Commander, SirJulian Byng, and his right-hand man, Arthur Currie, kept Canadiancasualties down.
The Canadian success at Vimy marked a profoundturning-point for the Allies. A year-and-a-half later, the GreatWar was over. The Canadian record, crowned by the achievements atVimy, won for Canada a separate signature on the VersaillesPeace Treaty ending the war. Back home, the victory at Vimy, won bytroops from every part of the country, helped unite many Canadiansin pride at the courage of their citizen-soldiers, andestablished a feeling of real nationhood.
Brigadier-General Alexander Ross had commandedthe 28th (North-West) Battalion at Vimy. Later, as president ofthe Canadian Legion, he proposed the first Veterans' post-war,pilgrimage to the new Vimy Memorial in 1936. He said of the battle:
"It was Canada from the Atlantic to thePacific on parade. I thought then . . . that in those few minutes Iwitnessed the birth of a nation."
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